Morocco's Atlas Lions go into their home game against second-placed Guinea on Saturday, knowing that victory could consolidate their group lead.
With just a point between the two teams, defender Talal El Karkouri is aware of the importance of the match against the Syli Nationale.
"Guinea have to expect a battle against us because we are playing at home, on our pitch and in front of our people," Karkouri told BBC Sport.
"We are like friends. But when you're on the pitch, there are no friends."
Kenya, in third position, and fourth-placed Botswana are both on six points, three adrift of the leaders.
Yet both hope to close the gap when they meet in Nairobi on Saturday.
The Harambee Stars' confidence received a much-needed boost on Wednesday, when they drew 2-2 at home to Ghana's Black Stars.
Botswana, regarded as minnows in the African game, face the Kenyans with the belief that victory is possible after beating the East Africans 2-1 in Gaborone last October.
 Lemerre's team must beat Malawi to get back on track |
"We hope that in the good moments during the game, we will be lucky to score and maybe win the game - it's a real possibility," Botswana's Serbian coach Vesselin Jelusic told BBC Sport.
Both teams meanwhile will be keeping an eye on events in Tunisia, where the African champions will be trying to kick-start their campaign with victory over Malawi on Saturday.
The Tunisians have only won one of their last four games and coach Roger Lemerre has made changes to strengthen the squad.
He has dropped captain Khaled Badra and brought in two 20-year-old French-born players, striker Chaouki Ben Saada and midfielder Hamed Namouchi.
Should the Carthage Eagles fail to secure victory at the Rades Stadium, an appearance at the Germany finals would be a very remote possibility.
Group fixtures - Morocco v Guinea (1900 GMT), Kenya v Botswana (1300 GMT) and Tunisia v Malawi (1815 GMT). All games are on Saturday, 26 March.
The weekend's World Cup qualifying matches will be covered live on the website
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Guinea have to expect a battle against us 